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From Democracy Now:

Report: World Faces First Global Recession Since WWII

The World Bank warned Sunday the world is falling into the first global recession since World War II as the economic crisis engulfs once-booming developing nations, confronting them with massive financial shortfalls that could turn back the clock on poverty reduction by years. The Washington Post reports the bank also cautioned that the cost of helping poorer nations in crisis would exceed the current financial resources of multilateral lenders. The World Bank is predicting that the global economy will shrink this year for the first time since the 1940s. The economic crisis is projected to push around 46 million people into poverty this year.

US Unemployment Rate Jumps to 8.1 Percent

In other economic news, the nation’s unemployment rate has jumped to 8.1 percent, the highest since 1983. Employers cut 651,000 jobs in February. 4.4 million jobs have been lost over the past fourteen months. In a speech in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday, President Obama called the number of lost jobs “astounding.”

President Obama: “I don’t need to tell the people of this state what statistics like this mean, because so many of you have been watching jobs disappear long before this recession hit. And I don’t need to tell this graduating class what it’s like to know that your job might be next, because up until a few weeks ago, that is precisely the future that this class faced—a future that millions of Americans still face right now. Well, that is not a future I accept for the United States of America.”

Record 31.8 Million Americans Now on Food Stamps

The number of Americans receiving food stamps reached a record 31.8 million in February, an increase of 700,000 people since January. Food stamp enrollment increased last month in forty-seven states. Demand has also hit record levels at community food banks.

Vicki Escarra, CEO of Feeding America: “Our donors have stepped up very generously, but the reality is we’ve not seen a crisis like this since the Great Depression. And so, we are in the middle of truly a crisis for average Americans.”